Tasmania stays on bushfire alert

Date: January 08 2013

David Beniuk and Patrick Caruana

Tasmania remains on alert with 40 bushfires burning around the state and five blazes still considered a major threat.

A fire at Montumana northwest of Burnie was still cause for an emergency warning from authorities on Tuesday evening, while massive blazes on the Tasman Peninsula and in the Derwent Valley continued to burn out of control.

Two more fires, at Mathinna in the northeast, and Holwell, south of Beaconsfield, reached emergency-warning level on Tuesday but were downgraded.

Firefighters battled winds with gusts of 70km/h, but relief appeared to be on the way with cooler temperatures forecast for Wednesday.

Hobart was expected to reach a top of just 16C on Wednesday, after a historic high of 42C last Friday, with winds of up to 45km/h predicted.

Snow was even a possibility on the higher peaks of the central and southern parts of the state, and the total fire ban was due to be lifted at midnight on Tuesday.

Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings said the tally of lost properties stood at 128, but police were yet to find any bodies among the rubble.

Ms Giddings announced the formation of an interim committee to oversee the bushfire recovery.

"It was devastating to see the damage done to rural properties, to livestock literally, there in the paddock, asphyxiated by the fire," the premier told reporters.

"This is one of the worst fires we have experienced for many, many years.

"People have lost everything. We can't comprehend that devastation unless we are in their shoes."

Police said 100 people remained unaccounted for, but a preliminary search of more than 550 houses had found no trace of the missing.

A second round of more comprehensive searches was expected to begin by Thursday with a contingent of Victorian police and eight specialists in missing person registrations arriving to help.

Tasmania Police reacted angrily to Facebook rumours that bodies had been removed from a bushfire site, repeating that no dead had been found.

"Police searches of fire-affected areas are continuing today, and no bodies have been discovered at this stage," a statement said.

Convoys out of the Tasman Peninsula resumed on Tuesday evening after windy conditions caused them to be suspended earlier in the day.

About 500 cars had left by Tuesday morning and another 250 were on the closed Arthur Highway by the evening, with another group due to leave at 8pm (AEDT).

Tasmania Police were yet to indicate when residents would be allowed to return to the worst-affected areas in the state's southeast.

Acting Deputy Commissioner Donna Adams said asbestos and contaminated water were among the safety concerns and briefings would need to be held before people returned.

"We don't want people going into the area and obviously compromising their safety," Ms Adams said.

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) extended its catastrophe declaration to the east coast area around Bicheno and the Derwent Valley.

ICA chief executive Rob Whelan said more than 400 claims had been received, worth around $42 million, with more expected as people returned to their properties.

Energy supplier Aurora said the deployment of mobile generators meant power would be restored to some areas of the Tasman Peninsula by the weekend.

The worst-hit areas still have a wait of several weeks.

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